Asteroid 2025 PM, with a diameter of about 50 meters, will pass at a distance of approximately one lunar orbit diameter from Earth on August 17. This was reported by the Laboratory of Solar Astronomy of the IKI RAN.
The asteroid was discovered only on August 1 of this year, about 2 weeks ago. The object does not exhibit cometary properties and is most likely a stone block without traces of volatile substances.
The asteroid will be one of the largest objects to approach Earth at a distance of less than a million kilometers in recent times. It will pass at its minimum distance from the planet on August 17 at 12:03 Moscow time.
The most well-known impact on Earth of a meteorite of comparable size occurred about 50 thousand years ago and caused the formation of the Arizona Crater (Barringer Crater) in the USA. This event underscores the importance of observing such objects to assess potential risks to our planet.
Earlier, www1.ru reported that Russian scientists estimated the explosive power of the 90-meter asteroid YR4 in the Earth's atmosphere.
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